You better knock, knock on wood.
Why? Well, because today we're looking back on the iconic the teen comedy Easy A. The hit film starred Emma Stone as Olive Penderghast, a 17-year-old girl that lets a lie spiral out of control in order to increase her notoriety at school. Partially inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter, Stone's Olive finds herself getting ostracized and decides to stitch a red A into provocative clothing.
Along the way, Olive becomes closer with her longtime crush, the school's mascot "Woodchuck" Todd (played by Penn Badgley). The cast also includes Amanda Bynes as Marianna Bryant, Dan Byrd as Brandon, Aly Michalka as Rhiannon Abernathy, Thomas Haden Church as Mr. Griffith and others.
Easy A was made on a budget of $8 million and made its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. Six days later, it opened in theaters, making back double the budget by the end of the opening weekend.
"I kind of pushed them to let me be the first person to audition for it," Stone told E! News back in the day. "Needless to say, they auditioned a lot of people for it. So, I was very lucky that they gave me a chance to do it."
While the film had a star-studded cast, Stone was the breakout star, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her work. But a lot has happened in the 10 years since its premiere. Now, in honor of her birthday November 6, take a closer look at the cast then and now.
Emma Stone
When Emma Stone starred in Easy A as Olive Penderghast, we had only seen her in a few films like Zombieland and Superbad.
However, the actress totally took off after playing the good girl gone bad (but actually only pretending) and continued to star in films like Crazy, Stupid Love, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Favourite and Cruella. She also won her first Oscar for her performance in La La Land in 2017 followed by her second for her lead role in Poor Things four years later.
Emma quietly married Dave McCary in 2020 and the pair welcomed their first child together the following year.
Penn Badgley
Penn Badgley played Woodchuck Todd in the film, capturing our hearts when he recreated John Hughes' greatest romcoms for Olive, such as holding up speakers outside her window. Now, you can catch the Gossip Girl actor as the terrifying stalker Joe Goldberg in You.
In the fall of 2020, Penn and wife Domino Kirke welcomed a baby boy.
Amanda Bynes
When Amanda Bynes joined the cast of Easy A, she was already pop culture royalty from projects like The Amanda Show and She's the Man. The role ended up being the Nickelodeon alum's last to date, with her retiring from acting in 2010.
Three years later, Amanda was placed under a conservatorship, which was terminated in 2022.
"Words can't even describe how I feel," the Hairspray star told E! News after her conservatorship ended. "Wonderful news."
Over the years, Amanda has explored other passions beyond acting—with her sharing she attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising as well as cosmetology school to study nail art.
She announced her engagement to Paul Michael in 2020. However, after splitting and getting back together, they broke up again in 2022.
Dan Byrd
Dan Byrd played Brandon, a high student who is gay but lies about having sex with Olive to make others believe he's straight. The Cougar Town star also appeared in A Cinderella Story, Norman and Young Sheldon
Thomas Haden Church
After playing our favorite English teacher Mr. Griffith on Easy A, Thomas Haden Church went on to star in Ned and Stacey, Divorce, Hellboy and Twisted Metal.
Patricia Clarkson
We loved Patricia Clarkson as Olive's sassy, honest mom.
Which maybe makes it all the more fun that her role as a mother was a total 180 when she played the creepy and demented Adora Crellin in Sharp Objects.
The actress also appeared in films like Friends with Benefits, One Day and the Maze Runner movies and won an Emmy for her role in State of the Union.
Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci was already a household name when he portrayed Dill Penderghast, Olive's open-minded and witty dad.
Prior to this role, he had nabbed an Oscar nomination for his work in The Lovely Bones. But he's probably best known for starring opposite Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada and Julie & Julia. Other popular performances include his work in The Hunger Games movies, Spotlight and Inside Man.
When not teaching the world how to make the perfect Negroni cocktail, Stanley is likely traveling to sample the best cuisine, as he did for his series Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.
After losing his first wife Kate Tucci to breast cancer in 2009, he married Emily Blunt's sister, Felicity Blunt, in 2012. He is a father to five children, three he welcomed with Kate and two he shares with Felicity.
Lisa Kudrow
Everyone knows this friend! Lisa Kudrow came into fame thanks to her role as Phoebe Buffay on the long-running sitcom, Friends. In Easy A, she played guidance counselor Mrs. Griffith, who shockingly had an affair with (a legal age) student.
Lisa went on to star in several projects since the Easy A, including Booksmart, The Boss Baby, The Girl on the Train, HouseBroken and, of course, HBO Max's Friends reunion.
She is married to Michel Stern and mother to son Julian.
Malcolm McDowell
Veteran actor Malcolm McDowell, known for his work A Clockwork Orange and Time After Time, joined the Easy A cast as stern Principal Gibbons.
Since filming Easy A, he has appeared in Bombshell, Mozart in the Jungle, Son of a Critch and more.
Malcolm is married to Kelley Kuhr, and he is the father of four kids: Finnian and Beckett, whom he shares with Kelley, as well as Lilly and Charlie, whom he raised with ex-wife Mary Steenburgen. In fact, Charlie is married to Lily Collins.
Cam Gigandet
After playing Easy A's God-loving repeat senior Micah, Cam Gigandet went on to star in Burlesque, The Roommate, The Magnificent Seven, Outlaw Posse and more.
Aly Michalka
From Disney Channel darling to Emma's BFF in the Easy A, Aly Michalka is definitely a recognizable name.
After wrapping the Easy A, Michalka went on to land a leading role in iZombie while also performing alongside sister AJ Michalka in their pop duo, Aly & AJ. In late 2020, they blessed fans with an explicit version of their iconic "Potential Breakup Song"
Aly is also mom to son Jack, whom she welcomed with husband Stephen Ringer in June 2024.
Fred Armisen
Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen had a small, but impactful role, in the Easy A—portraying a Christian pastor who is the father of Amanda's character.
In addition to SNL, which he departed in 2013, he's starred in Portlandia, The Smurfs, Big Mouth, Los Espookys and more.
In July 2024, Fred's Wednesday costar Riki Lindhome revealed to People the two had actually tied the knot two years prior.
This story was originally published on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020 at 2:26 p.m. PT.